Topeka ? Another Kansan upset with the 6-4 majority on the State Board of Education has announced he will run for a seat on the board.

Don Weiss, of Olathe, who is chief operations officer of Googols of Fun, 4931 W. Sixth St., said Thursday he would run as a Democratic candidate for the State Board of Education’s 3rd District.

The current board member from that district is John Bacon, of Olathe, a conservative Republican who voted for science standards that criticize evolution, and to hire Bob Corkins, a former lobbyist who fought public schools, as education commissioner.

Weiss said both decisions upset him.

“Now Kansas is again the laughing stock of the world and the butt of a thousand jokes because the board’s Radical Right have ignored education experts, made outrageous statements, and put cronyism and personal ideology ahead of their duty,” he said.

Weiss is the latest in a handful of candidates who have announced their intentions to challenge conservatives on the board. Four of the six conservatives are up for re-election next year.

Bacon, who could not be reached for comment, already faces opposition in the Republican Party primary from Harry McDonald, a retired science teacher who led a pro-evolution group.

District 3 includes parts of Anderson, Franklin, Johnson, and Linn counties and all of Miami County.

In southeast Kansas, Kent Runyan, a professor at Pittsburg State University and former president of the Pittsburg school board, said he will run as a Democrat against Republican Iris Van Meter of Thayer

And in western Kansas, Sally Cauble, a Republican from Liberal, has filed to challenge incumbent Connie Morris, of St. Francis, in the GOP primary. Democrat Tim Cruz, former mayor of Garden City, also intends to run.

Ken Willard, a conservative Republican from Hutchinson, has yet to draw an opponent. The primary is Aug. 1 and the general election Nov. 7.

Also up for re-election is Janet Waugh, a Kansas City Democrat.